Tub construction for two-tub spinner type clothes washing machines



1947- G. w. DUNHAM 2,421,252

'rus CONSTRUCTION FOR TWO-TUB SPINNER TYPE CLOTHES WASHING MACHINESOriginal Filed April 9, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor: George W Dunham,

by A ZM His Attorney.

May 27, 1947. G; w. DUNHAM TUB CONSTRUCTION FOR TWO-TUB SPINNER TYPECLOTHES WASHING MACHINES I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed April 9, 19430 7 W r 7 i e s 8 0 w. u l e m n a 0 7 7 4 2 4 v a J 9 #m 4 0 7 5 Q I 4m 6 a 0 0 m 3 Inventor: George W Dunham, by new, 5. M

His Attorney.

Patented May 27, 1947 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUB CONSTRUCTION FORTWO-TUB SPINNER TYPE CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES George W. Dunham,Westport, Conn., assignor to General Electric C New York ompany, acorporation of Original application April 9, 1943, Serial No. 482,417.Divided and this application May 5, 1945, Serial No. 592,105

2 Claims. (01. 68-26) The object of my invention is to provide an Iimproved construction and arrangement in washing machines of this typeand for a consideration of what I believe novel and my invention,attention is directed to the following descript io and the claimsappended thereto. In the accompanying drawings, Fig. l is a perspectiveview of a washing machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the supporting skirt; Fig. 3 is an exploded view ofthe upper end of the spinning compartment; Fig. 4 is a sectional topplan view; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation; Fig. 6 is a section taken online 6-- 6, Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is an enlarged Sectional elevation of theagitator drive; Fig. 8 is a detail of the skirt reenforcement; Fig. 9 isa plan of the universal connection to the spinner basket; Fig. 10 is aplan of the universal connection to the spinner drive shaft; and Fig. 11is a detail of the pump support. 4

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a washing machine havingadjacent washing and spinning compartments I and 2 carried on a skirt 3to which are afilxed supporting legs 4. As shown in Fig. 2, the skirt isfabricated from two symmetrical pieces 5 each of which hassemicylindrical sections 6 and I joined at opposite ends by welds 8 andconnected at the center by a reenforcing member 9 (Fig. 8). This design1 permits the making of the skirt from sheet stock and eliminates thelarge and expensive forming dies heretofore in general use. The skirtsections -5 have integral tabs 8a which close the space between theskirt and the lower ends of the washing and spinning compartments.

Extending across and fixed at its ends to the skirt is a T-shaped framecomprising sections [0 and II. Opposite ends of section In have arcuateflanges l2 bolted to reenforcing pads l3 fixed to the skirt. One end ofthe section H is bolted to the center of the section l0 (Fig. 5) and theother end is provided with an arcuate flange 14 bolted to a reenforcingpad IS. The section II extends beneath the reenforcing member 9 and isbolted thereto'at l6 as shown in Fig. 8. The

points of attachment cf mthe frame to the skirt are beneath the legs 4so the weight of the mechanism carried by the frame is transmitteddirectly to the legs.

The washing compartment l consists of a tub having a reduced portion I!at the lower end telescoped within the part of the skirt formed bysemicylindrical sections 6 and having a shoulder l8 seated on a rubberbead IS on .the upper edge of the skirt. The spinning compartment 2consists of a cylindrical shell having a stifiening flange 2| telescopedwithin the part of the skirt formed bysemicylindrical sections 1 andhaving a shoulder 22 resting on a rubber head 23 on the upper edge ofthe skirt. The tub and the shell are preferably tightly wedged into theupper end of the skirt to'stifien the same so the skirt may be made oflighter gage metal. On the side adjacent the tub, the shell 20 has aprojecting portion 24 the arcuate end wall .25 of which is presentedtoward and conforms to the side wall of the tub. In the upper end of theshell is an annular trough having an'outer section 23 provided with aprojecting portion 21 which nests within the projecting portion 24 ofthe shell 20 and having cylindrical inner section 28 which closely fitswithin an upstanding wall 29 at the Y inner edge of the outer section26. The wall 29 is above the normal liquid level in the trough so thesection 28 serves primarily as a splash guard. The bottom of the troughslopes toward an opening 30 at its lowermost part formed by a tab 3|struck out of the arcuate end wall of the projecting portion 21 adjacentthe bottom wall of the trough. The opening 30 registers with openlugs 32and 33 in the tub and in the end wall 25 and with openings 34 and 35 ingaskets 36 and 31 respectively arranged between the tub and the 1 outersurface of the wall 25 and between the in ner surface of the wall 25 andthe nesting projection 21 of the trough. When the nesting projections 24and 21 are bolted to the side of the tub, the shell 20 is fixed. to thetub so the shell and tub constitute a rigid structural unit, the troughis securely supported in the upper end of v the shell, and theregistering openings 30, 32, 33,

34, and 35 form a drain from the trough to the tub which is preferablylocated at the desired liquid levelin the .tub. The upper end of thetrough is enclosed by a cover member 38 seated on the upper edge of theshell 20 and having a flange 39 overlapping and projecting within theupper outer edge of the trough.

An auxiliary drain from the trough is provided by a! standpipe 40 whichextends up through one corner of the projection 24 and has its upper endslightly above the lowermost part of the opening connecting the troughand the tub. The upper end of the standpipe defines the maximum liquidlevelin the tub. Thelower end of the standpipe is at all times connectedto the inlet of a pump 4! pivotally supported between pivot pins 42(Fig. 11) threaded in flanges 43 on the frame member II. By means of aspring 44 the pump is urged in a counterclockwise direction (Figs. 5,'7) so as to hold the pump drive pulley 45 against a pulley 45 on theshaft of a motor 41. The pump is continuously driven during theoperation of the machine and tends to draw liquid from the trough andpump it through a drain hose 4B. The pump inlet is connected to thebottom of the tub through a conduit 49 and a valve 50 controlled by apush rod 5| extending through a packing 52 in the tub end of the conduit49. The push rod is biased by a spring 53 to the lowered position inwhich the valve 50 is closed and is raised by a lever-54 pivoted on abracket 55 (Fig. 4) and extending out through a slot 58 in the skirt 3.The slot 56 has a notch 51 for holding the lever 54, in the loweredposition in which the valve 50 is opened connecting the pump to thebottom of the tub.

In the tub is a bladed agitator 58 which is oscillated by a shaft 59journaled in a tubular post 60 which is fixed in a boss 6I on the framemember II and sealed at 62 to the bottom of the tub. Fixed to the lowerend of the shaft 59 is a crank arm63 connected to an eccentric strap 64on an eccentric 65 integral with a pulley 66. The pulley is journaled ona stub shaft 6'! fixed in a boss 68 on the frame member II and is driventhrough a belt 89 by a pulley I on the motor shaft. With the abovedescribed mechanism the agitator will be continuously oscillated whenthe motor 41 is running. If desired, some arrangement may be providedwhereby the agitator drive may be disconnected from the motor.

In the spinning compartment is a spinner basket ll having imperforateside walls flaring outward toward the top and terminating in a rim I2which overlaps the inner wall 28 of the annular trough. 7 Fixed to thetop of the rim I2 is an annular flange 1'3 provided with radialindentations I4 which serve as centrifugal 'discharge openings. Theflange 13 projects radially inward of the side walls of the spinnerbasket and. serves as a guard ring which keeps the clothes within thespinner basket during centrifugal drying. Beneath the trough is abalance ring I arranged substantially opposite the center of gravity ofthe spinner basket and of such proportions that the moment of inertia ofthe spinner basket about its axis of spin is equal to or greater thanthe moment of inertia of the spinner basket about a cross axis throughits center of gravity.

The spinner basket is driven through a universal connection comprising aspring steel ring 16 (Fig. '9) having alternate points 11 bolted to thebottom wall of the spinner basket and intermediate points I8 bolted toarms I9 of a spider fixed to the upper end'of a drive shaft 80. Thisuniversal connection to the spinner basket permits tilting of thespinner basket relative to its drive shaft 80 so as to neutralizeunbalanced couple resulting from unequal distribution of clothes in thespinner basket. The unbalanced couple is equivalent to equal andopposite weights above and below the center of gravity of the spinnerbasket. Because the driving connection to the spinner basket is belowits center of gravity, it is important that the moment of inertia of the-spinner-basket about its axis of spin be greater than the moment .ofinertia about a cross axis through its center of gravity. If the crossaxis moment of inertia is greater than the moment of inertia about theaxis of spin, the basket is dynamically unstable since it tends torotate about the axis having the greater moment of inertia.

The spinner drive shaft 80 is journaled in a sleeve 8| by means of atapered roller thrust bearing 82 and a sleeve bearing 83. Fixed to thesleeve BI is a, semispherical stamping 84 which rests on a complementaryspherical support 85 carrying friction members 86 which frlctlonallyresist tilting of the sleeve. Tilting of the sleeve from its centralposition is resiliently resisted by a rubber ring 81 arranged between aflange 08 on the stamping 84 and a flange 09 at the upper end of acylinder 90. The supporting member 85 and the cylinder 90 are bolted tothe upper surface of the frame member II. The stillness of the rubberring 81 is such that the critical speed of the spinner basket issubstantially below its normal running speed. In the presentconstruction the critical speed is of the order of 60 to 100 R. P. M.,and the running speed is of the order of 1200 R. P. M. Since the rubberrin is relatively weak, the sleeve 83 tends to tilt to a position inwhich the spinner basket rotates about its center of gravity, thusneutralizing the eifect of static unbalance. At speeds above thecritical speed there are gyroscoplc vibrations, known as precession,which may be either forward or backward as regards the direction ofrotation of the spinner basket. These gyroscoplc vibrations are dampedby the friction between the friction members 86 and the inner surface ofthe spherical member 85.

The spinner basket is driven through an intermediate shaft BI having auniversal connection at its lower end to a pulley 92 and a similaruniversal connection at its upper end to the spinner shaft 80. Theuniversal connection to the spinner shaft is illustrated in Fig. 10. Itcomprises a spring steel ring 93 having diametrically opposed tabs 94bolted to forked arms 95 at the upper end of the intermediate shaft BIand having in termedlate tabs 96 fixed to the ends of an arm 91projecting from a hub 98 pinned to the spinner shaft 80. At the lowerend of the intermediate shaft 9! is a similar universal joint connectedbetween forked arms 99 and the pulley 92. The universal connection tothe lower end of the spinner shaft 80 is at the center of the sphericalsurfaces 84 and so that the upper end of the intermediate shaft BI isalways at the same point.

The pulley B2 is Journaled on a pin I00 fixed in the outer end of an arml0l integral with a sleeve I02 pivoted on a pin I03 depending from theframe member H. Also pivoted on the pin I03 is a lever I04. projectingout through a slot l 05 in the skirt 3 and having a toggle connectionwith the sleeve I02 comprising pins I05 and I01 and a compression springI08. As the lever I04 is moved on opposite sides of the center line ofthe toggle, the arm I0l is pivoted so as to move the pulley either intoengagement with the pulley 46 on the motor shaft or into engagement withan arcuate brake 'mem-ber I09 (Figs. 4 and 5) pivoted on a pin 0 fixedin a. boss III depending from the frame member II. With the lever I04 inthe position illustrated in Fig. 4, the pulley 92 is in engagement withthe brake I09. When the lever I04 is moved to the left, the pulley 92 ismoved into engagement with the drive pulley 4G. In the driving andbraking positions the intermediate shaft 9| has a slight angularitywhich is permitted by the universal connections.

' in the use of the machine the tub is fllledwith 'waterto the level ofthe opening connecting the tub with the annular trough, and the drainhose is slightly'out of line with the passage 'connecti ing the'troughand tub, there is very little tendency for water to be splashed into thestandpipe during oscillation of the agitator, and the liquid level inthe tub will remain substantially-constant during washing. At theconclusion of the washing operation the clothes are removed from the tuband loaded in the spinner basket H and the lever W4 is moved from thebraking position to the driving position. The liquid in the clothes iscentrifugally discharged through the opening M into the troughsurrounding the upper end of the spinner basket, and the bulk of theliquid caught in the trough drains back into the tub. A small amount ofliquid in the trough'may drain through the standpipe, but, since theupper end of the standpipe is above the lowermost part of the trough andpresents a relatively small open-' ing, it is expected that the bulk ofthe centrifugally discharged liquid will drain back into the tub. If theclothes are nonuniformly distributed in the spinner basket, the effectof static unbalance will be neutralized by the tilting of the spinnerdrive shaft 80 permitted by-the rubber ringtl, and the efiect of dynamicunbalance (unbalanced couple) will be neutralized by the tilting ofthe-spinner basket relative to the upper end of the spinner shaft 80permitted by the universal connection through the spring-steel ring it.At speeds above the critical speed, gyroscopic vibration or precessionwill be damped by the friction between the friction members 86 and thespherical surface 84. By this arrangement I the harmful vibrations dueto unbalanced distribution of clothes in the spinner basket are kept toa minimum. After the clothes have been centrifugally dried, the clothesmay be rinsed by spraying clean water into the spinnerb'asket eitherwith the spinner basket stationary or while it is rotating. The sprayrinse water will be centrifugally discharged into the trough, and enoughofthe rinse water to replace that absorbed in the clothes will flow backinto the tub through the passage connecting the trough with the .tub.The balance of the rinse water will flow through the standpipe 40 to thepump and will be discharged to the drain. At the conclusion of, therinsing operation the tub accordingly will be filled to the proper levelwith wash water. At

the end of the centrifugal drying operation the lever W6 is moved to thebraking position illustrated in Fig. 4, and the spinner basket isquickly brought to rest by the brake 909. When the washing is finished,the lever 5 is moved into the notch 51 at the lower end of the slot 56,raise ing the valve 50 and connecting the bottom of of the two to thepump so that the water in the tub is pumped to the drain.

The spinner basket drive and balancing structure disclosed is notclaimed herein, it bein claimed in my aforesaid parent application.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:'

1. In a washing machine having a tub and a spinner basket side by side,an enclosure surrounding the spinner basket having integral pro-.-jecting walls projecting radially outward and conforming with the sidewalls of the tub, an annular trough within said enclosure havingprojecting walls nesting within the projecting Walls of the enclosure,and means fastening the pro-' jecting walls of the trough and enclosureto the side walls of the tub, and registering openings in saidprojecting walls and the side walls of the tub through which the troughdrains to-the tub.

2. In a washing machine, a tub, an annular wall outside of and attachedto thetub at one:

side thereof, an annular trough U-shaped in cross section positionedwithin said wall and at tached thereto and to the tub, said wall, tuband trough where joined having openings defining a passage whichconnects the trough to the tub at a point spaced downward from the topedge of the tub whereby it serves to define the liquid level in the tub,a spinner basket within said annular wall with its upper end positionedwithin and in spaced relation to said trough, and walls connected to theupper edge of the basket and projecting over the inner edge of thetrough defining a. passage for conveying liquid extracted from clothesin the spinner basket to said trough. GEORGE W. DUNHAM.

REFERENCES crrnn The following references are of record in the I file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

